Your first lifts...

[Kye Thomas]

Just thought it would be interesting to see what you guys were lifting the first time you entered a gym.. you hear about these people such as terry hollands who pulled 600lb the first time he tried deadlifting!

What were your ages, body weight and lifts?

Bench press aged thirteen - 50kgx2 at about 8.5 stone

Deadlift aged 15 - 135kg 1rep at 9.5 stone

I would be interested to hear from some of you big guys!

[Brandon Smith]

Hmm...hazy trying to remember that long ago. haha. A few early lifts I remember are:

Age 13, BW ~210, first time in the weight room, benches 75 lbs X 10 for 2 sets

Age 14, BW ~225, winter track, excited to squat 225 lbs X 10 for 3 sets

Age 16, BW ~240, spring track, squatted 365 lbs X 1 and trap bar deadlifted 405 lbs X 5

As you can see, my lifts haven't gone up much in the past decade and a half! :M:

[ADAMBAUER]

I was 26
bench 90 x10
Squat 90x10
Military Press 75 x 10
I was overweight, lazy and weak! Now I am just over weight and weak :)

[Jared Enderton]

when I was in 5th grade-about 105lbs. I benched 120lbs. I was sooo excited. I remember my brother was spotting me and I just went nuts afterwards cause he didnt think I could do it. That was my first lift ever.

[Billy Wolt]

at 15, i was a chubby 175, and i was benching 225 max and seated overhead pressing 135 for reps.

i didn't do squats or deadlifts.... i wish i knew then what i knew now.

[Brandon Campbell]

age 11,

Bench press 185
Squat 225

thats all i knew how to do then lol and curls and stuff.

[Scott Porter]

I benched 115 one of the first times I lifted...I believe it was 8th grade and I weighed about the same.

[Scott Markowitz]

I don't recall my very first lifts, but I do recall that it was the summer prior to my 10th grade year. I was so impressed with myself that I hit 225 on the bench, until some jerk senior came in, asked if I was done, put a 25 on each side and proceeded to warm up. I don't remember what my other lifts were that summer, but I know that before I finished 10th grade I'd benched 275, squatted 405 and clean and jerked around 200. Those were the only 3 lifts our coach let us do.

[Mike Westerling]

...failed with 50lbs first time ever benching-dropped it on my nose-lol!

I weighed about 100lbs but I could do 20+ pullups and climb the ropes and peg board in gym class like a monkey.

Did 300lbs at about 150lbs as a high school freshman less than a year later.
-Mike

[Mac Smith]

First time I maxed was in 9th grade. I was 5'11 170lbs. I benched 225 for a triple (we did triples for max). I squatted 315 for 3 as well. My first powerlifting meet a 16 I squatted 440, deadlifted 495, and benched 315. I was 6'1 215lbs. ALL RAW (that was 1990, damn I'm old! LOL).

[Anthony LaMarca]

I started doing bench and curls when I was in 6th grade. I can remember doing 120 on bench. My freshman year in high school, I squatted 95x8 and got buried at the bottom of the rack. I had benched 225 at that time so I was one of those people who benched more than they squatted for quite a while. I pulled a little over 300 the first time I tried deads.

[Kristyn Vytlacil]

I was definitely one of those ppl who started lifting by using all the Nautilus machines and doing circuit training... I started with that stuff when I was a freshman in H.S. and didn't discover free weights until my senior year really. I can't honestly remember doing much maxing out, but I know I did squats and cleans and bench. I was one of the only girls in our lifting class in school, no surpise there.

[BradyJones]

jesus, some of you guys were real strong right out of the gates!!! i was about 15 or so, i weighed 130ish, benched 75x5 for one of my first ever sets, and could curl the 15s like 5 times.... i think thats alll i did my first year was bench and curls..

[Jason Oyler]

Freshman Year-Weighed 190lbs Bench Max-135
Sophmore Year-Weighed 215 Bench Max-235
Jounior Year-Weighed 235 Bench Max-275 Squat Max-365-3/4 squat, clueless
Senior Year-Weighed 245 Bench Max-330 Squat Max-435

All maxes were at the end of each year. I wish I had someone pushing me to squat more.

[Elliot_Storey]

I deadlifted half of what Terry did my first time. I was a freshman after football season and 225 felt like nothing. I certainly didn't do anything impressive in high school besides deadlift 315 at a bodyweight of 150. If anyone considers that good, my secret is long arms and landscaping. My bench freshman year was 135.

[Eric Johnson]

I was 5 or 6, and my dad was holding the bar, so somewhere less than 45 ;). (Bench of course).

[chrisklavette]

My first time lifting I was in 3rd grade and I remember doing curls one night in the basement with some of my dad's dumbbells because I was pretty sure I was going to have to fight a sixth grader the next day.

We didn't end up fighting.

After that it was after I got home from the army on leave for the first time and I benched 135! I was 24 when I first deadlifted and that was 315.

[corey.clark]

When I was in 4th or 5th grade my parents got me a Hulkamania weight set and I did a bunch of random exercises that came on a poster with that for a bit. Didn't get that serious about lifting until I got to junior high and started playing football though

I never deadlifted until I was maybe 24, worked up to a single with 315 the first time I tried it

[Jared Enderton]

my bench was always good(still is good)however, I JUST surpassed my bench with my squat!!! wow!!! it's about time

8th grade year-260 bench
Fresh year-300 bench,
soph year-345 bench,
jr. year 405 bench
sr. year 460 bench

what hurt me a lot was football and wrestling, I only ever had like 4 months of consistent training 2 of those months were spent regaining my strength I had lost.

Last year I just really learned that, well, I needed to lift legs!!

Mostly everyone's first lift was benching and some curls. Do you think it will ever change into the million dollar question being how much do ya squat? ha I dont think it will ever happen.

[Joshua Davis]

I always sucked at bench. I think a high point for me was 145 during JV Wrestling in the 7th grade, 145 for 10 in the 10th grade, and 225 for a double, at best.

First time I ever squatted I got 275 for 5, and deadlifts came out to 315 for a single. First time I ever did the log press I got 150 for 3, which was really good, because that was Tom's log and that was it's unloaded weight (it's amazing to me that was only 4 years ago). First time seriously doing farmers walks I managed 200/hand for about 45 feet or so.

[Jonathan Macfarlane]

Going off memory...

First time I tried bench I was in the 8th grade and did 100lbs for a max. It was at that moment I decided I hated it. Haha.

Tried squats when I was 15, went along to the gym with dad and decided it looked like a cool exercise. Ended up doing 264x6 to about parallel.

Tried deadlifts for first time when I was 16 (this is when I actually started lifting, 6'3 225) and hit 400lbs first time.

Learnt to Oly lift at 16 and did a 210 clean after about 2 weeks training.

I've been lucky with the squat, the lift always made sense to me. At 17 I hadn't squatted in 3-4 months and went and maxed out at 505lbs. Sadly, since I've started squatting in the evil Olympic style, I'm still only at a 563lb max. 600 is coming soon.

Can't comprehend these guys hitting 600lb deadlifts first time they try!

[John Beatty]

In 8th grade, I Oly squatted (narrow, high bar, butt to ankles) 300, DL 350, benched 200 x 5. I had been working out pretty regular in our garage & basement for about 1 1/2 years. I have no Idea what I did starting out, that would have neen almost 30 years ago, I can't remember stuff I did last week. I know we used to start out with what dad called barbell warm ups, you'd clean the bar, do 10 squats, pop it over to the chest & do 10 presses, then drop it down & do 10 DL's. 2 sets of those, then squats, bench, DL's, presses, curls & some shoulder flyes. Every workout was that way & I'd go all out every time, 4 times a week. Never heard of splits, competitions, rest...lol, or anything but strict form dad taught me. Still love it almost 30 years later, though.

[Scott Markowitz]

I did exactly one deadlift in high school. A buddy of mine and I were having a competition for who was stronger. I was a better squatter, he was a better C&Jer, and we were back and forth on the bench. We basically kept doing lifts until we broke the tie (I think he won on lift #37, weighted situps or something).

At any rate, I won the DL by doing 455 when he couldn't get it. That was at age 17. The next time I did DL I was in my late 20s.

[Matthew White]

Hmmm, say 14 years old, weighed in at about 230 at 6'4" tall benched 205 (first time ever benching, my arms shook like mad) squatted same week 225 for 1 (didn't try more as I recall) and deadlifted 405. Hahaha, that's a bit of an offset.......or a bit of a jump. However, my highschool bests only got to 235 bench, 275 squat, and 445 deadlift, because I seldom went to the gym because people always treated me poorly in highschool, so I avoided the other students, I only worked out when a coach was in there. My deadlift came from bailing hay, throwing seedbags, and various other farmwork.

[Nikhil Rao]

Beginning of 7th grade, weighed 85lbs, 5'2". Got stapled by the bar. End of 7th grade broke 100lbs.

Middle of 9th grade, right before I turned cripple, weighed 135 5'8" benched 165 or 185 (don't remember) for a bunch of reps. Also the last time I had a really badass sixpack.

Didn't start actually lifting seriously until second half of junior year in HS.

[Chris Mathison]

I had a really badass sixpack.


Thats gross.


Middle of 9th grade, right before I turned cripple.

why exactly are you cripple? I mean you train strongman. right..

[Mac Smith]

Hmmm, say 14 years old, weighed in at about 230 at 6'4" tall benched 205 (first time ever benching, my arms shook like mad) squatted same week 225 for 1 (didn't try more as I recall) and deadlifted 405. Hahaha, that's a bit of an offset.......or a bit of a jump. However, my highschool bests only got to 235 bench, 275 squat, and 445 deadlift, because I seldom went to the gym because people always treated me poorly in highschool, so I avoided the other students, I only worked out when a coach was in there. My deadlift came from bailing hay, throwing seedbags, and various other farmwork.


Dude how big are you now? That's huge for a 14yr old!!!

[John VanDemark]

Freshman in HS I did 95lbs bench, haha! And I got a 275 squat. Then I ended up ditching almost every other weight class due to the fact that people (jocks) were always messing with me. It wasnt until I beat one down that they stopped. I didnt lift again until I was 19.

[Nikhil Rao]

Thats gross.



why exactly are you cripple? I mean you train strongman. right..

hepatitis shot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_sympathetic_dystrophy_syndrome#Symptoms

Somewhere between stage II and stage III. I avoid and minimize a lot of the problems because I've managed to stay active, so bloodflow has been fairly normal and I've been able to fight off the atrophy and limit the loss of endurance, although there are a lot of things I can no longer do that well. most people with it this severe don' even tryt. So they have a lot more degenerative problems. Same way as osteoporosis is a lot worse in inactive people. Pain, atrophy, back problems, joint problems, and breathing problems. List is too long to get into.

i'm hoping to *start* training strongman soon. It's been mostly rehab, regardless of what my training log looks like. The only lift that I'm actually training anywhere within my strength capacity is the deadlift.

[ClayEdgin]

My first days in the gym 4.5 years ago wasn't pretty except for the deadlift:

OHP: 95x3
Bench: 115x5
Squats: 270 in smith machine, tried 225 on a free bar and fell backwards with it!
Deadlifts: 365 - locked it out and grip came out so I vowed to never drop a lift again.

First time doing strongman stuff:
550-600 tirex3. Supersetted with laying on the ground dying.
Farmers: 210x50ft, 255x25ft
Stones: 180 to 54"
Yoke: 450-480, failed picking a 610